A workshop has been held here to create awareness in female traditional leaders on the importance of family planning and sexual and reproductive health.
Organised by Marie Stopes International Ghana an NGO, programme attracted 30 queenmothers, ‘Asafoanyemei’ and women’s group from churches in Tema and its environs.
It sought to equip participants to serve as family planning advocates in their communities so as o reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.
The Country Director of Marie Stopes International Ghana, Ms Faustina Finn-Nyame, said the organisation worked with the Ministry of Health and other organizations to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in Greater Accra Ashanti and Eastern regions,
“Maternal mortality is the second largest cause of female deaths in Ghana, accounting for 14 per cent of all female deaths”.
She said to make the intervention more effective they have formed a network of maternity homes, pharmacies and chemical shops to deliver affordable services to the communities.
They also worked with the Ghana Health Service to deliver long-term family planning methods to hard-to-reach areas where mortality is high and provide high quality service at affordable prices at clinics set up in Ashaiman, Kumasi, Tema New town and Kokomlemle.
Ms Finn-Nyame said between 2006 and 2007 the number of institutional maternal deaths increased from 58.2 per cent to 75.5 per cent describing at as tragic.
Comparing the Ghanaian situation to that of the United States she said while maternal mortality in Ghana is 210 to 100,000 that of US is 11 to 100,000.
She said Ghana’s high figure was unacceptable and needed to be reduced considerably.
Ms Finn-Nyame said there was the need to make every community member aware of their sexual reproductive health choice in order to reverse the trend.
She therefore appealed to female traditional leaders to champion the cause to remove misconception about family planning methods in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies and significantly reduce maternal mortality by 2015 to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Nii Adjei Kraku II, Tema Mantse, who chaired the function, said woman played a very important role in society and should therefore be supported in every aspect to maintain good health.
Organised by Marie Stopes International Ghana an NGO, programme attracted 30 queenmothers, ‘Asafoanyemei’ and women’s group from churches in Tema and its environs.
It sought to equip participants to serve as family planning advocates in their communities so as o reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.
The Country Director of Marie Stopes International Ghana, Ms Faustina Finn-Nyame, said the organisation worked with the Ministry of Health and other organizations to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in Greater Accra Ashanti and Eastern regions,
“Maternal mortality is the second largest cause of female deaths in Ghana, accounting for 14 per cent of all female deaths”.
She said to make the intervention more effective they have formed a network of maternity homes, pharmacies and chemical shops to deliver affordable services to the communities.
They also worked with the Ghana Health Service to deliver long-term family planning methods to hard-to-reach areas where mortality is high and provide high quality service at affordable prices at clinics set up in Ashaiman, Kumasi, Tema New town and Kokomlemle.
Ms Finn-Nyame said between 2006 and 2007 the number of institutional maternal deaths increased from 58.2 per cent to 75.5 per cent describing at as tragic.
Comparing the Ghanaian situation to that of the United States she said while maternal mortality in Ghana is 210 to 100,000 that of US is 11 to 100,000.
She said Ghana’s high figure was unacceptable and needed to be reduced considerably.
Ms Finn-Nyame said there was the need to make every community member aware of their sexual reproductive health choice in order to reverse the trend.
She therefore appealed to female traditional leaders to champion the cause to remove misconception about family planning methods in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies and significantly reduce maternal mortality by 2015 to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Nii Adjei Kraku II, Tema Mantse, who chaired the function, said woman played a very important role in society and should therefore be supported in every aspect to maintain good health.
